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Dom Robinson reviews

Red Corner

Leniency for those who confess.
Severity for those who resist.

Distributed by

MGM

Red Corner stars Richard Gere as a satellite TV executive on the verge of closing the biggest deal of his career in Beijing so the Chinese can sample the delights of American TV. To celebrate, he goes out on the town with his Chinese contemporary, Lin Dan (Byron Mann) and takes a young girl, Hong Ling, back to his room for an after-show party of their own. Early next morning, he is rudely awoken by a guard tapping on his shoulder. As he comes to, he realises his shirt is covered in blood, the girl is lying dead on the floor with stab wounds in her neck and the room is full of guards waiting to take him in.

As far as he's concerned he's been set up but he's finding it hard to remember what happened the night before as he has a severe hangover. What does become instantly clear is that he's in a land where you are presumed guilty and have to prove your innocence. This isn't so easy when the murdered girl is the daughter of a top-flight government official and no lawyers want to take on the case for fear of humiliation when they, inevitably, lose.

Someone does take it on though, in the form of Shen Yuelin (Bai Ling). At first she toes the party line - as it were - and also assumes his guilt, but as the case unfolds, she investigates it more deeply and begins to challenge the court and her country's procedures as she comes round to Moore's way of thinking, even if it could put her own life in danger.

The picture quality is excellent, bar a few minor artifacts which won't be noticeable from the usual viewing distance. I would say that the clarity of the image brings out the detailed locations in China, but are they really China? Read on for more details on this. The average bitrate is a good 5.61Mb/s, regularly peaking over 6Mb/s and the disc is 16:9-enhanced for widescreen televisions allowing 33% extra resolution. The film is presented in its original widescreen ratio of 1.85:1.

The sound quality is very good, the score used well to set tension when required but apart from a few occasions during the film, the neighbours aren't going to be banging on your walls for the two hours that it runs. The sound is in Dolby Digital 5.1, which downmixes to Dolby ProLogic if you do not have the requisite DD5.1 equipment.

Extras :

Chapters :

There are 32 chapters covering the 122 minutes of the film which cover each of the major scenes in the film. A theatrical trailer is also included in anamorphic 1.85:1 widescreen.

Languages & Subtitles :

The language and subtitles are in English only, the former coming in Dolby Digital 5.1 which downmixes to Dolby Surround for those without the requisite DD5.1 setup. Subtitles are also available in a "hard of hearing" option, which gives info about sound effects that are happening.

Other extras :

  • Director's commentary: This is a feature-length stereo commentary by director Jon Avnet giving his insights on the making of the film, including the news that this film, although set in China, was not filmed in the city and that Digital Domain had their work cut out by creating enough CGI shots to make their location look the part by manipulating a very tiny amount of filmed footage, plus a number of still 35mm snapshots that Avnet had taken.
  • Booklet: An 8-page booklet containing exclusive behind-the-scenes information. It also gives an interesting mention to why widescreen is much better than a standard pan-and-scan version, depending on the way a film is shot.

    Menu :

    The menu is static and silent but works well and is easy to navigate. On inserting the disc, you see the classic MGM "lion" logo before the menu appears. Clicking on "Play Movie" brings up the lion back again before the film starts. For some reason though, when you start the film, the default sound setting is the mono commentary track and not the film's DD5.1 soundtrack.

    This is a competent courtroom thriller with Gere very convincing as the man who may or may not be framed. Add to this a few elements which initially seem to signal a cliche but turn out not to be such as Shen Yuelin literally laying her life on the line for Moore's freedom and you have a film that's worthy of your attention in the main.

    If this film has its downfalls, it's that it does tend to tail off a little towards the end and it's a rare film that has such a definitive finale, yet can still command repeat viewings. Alas, I doubt this will be the case here so, if you can, it may be best to rent this film before buying. If you do choose to buy, you purchase it safe in the knowledge that you're not missing out on any extras in comparison with the Region 1 DVD. 

    FILM	 		: ****
PICTURE QUALITY 	: ****½
SOUND QUALITY		: *****
EXTRAS			: **
-------------------------------
OVERALL			: ****

    Review copyright © Dominic Robinson, 1999.

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